This year has been a year of milestones for Hannah Malmstrom. She married her best friend in May, and on Dec. 15, she graduated from UA Little Rock, earning a Bachelor of Art in applied communication.

In between, she and her husband, Clint Travis, spent four months in Europe, exploring nine countries. For a while, they worked on a self-sustaining farm in La Rochelle, France.

They’re already planning for their next backpacking adventure, which will be to Asia.

Right now she’s certain of two things: she loves children and she loves to travel. She hopes to find a career in communications that allows her to be involved in both.

A 2013 graduate of Little Rock’s Joe T. Robinson High School, Malmstrom initially enrolled at a different university to study journalism but transferred to UA Little Rock in January 2016 as a junior. After taking a communications class, she was hooked and decided to major in applied communication.

“I’ve really loved my experience here at UA Little Rock,” she said. “It was mostly because I liked the department. My professors know my name, they check up on me, and are able to be reached. I felt I was learning concepts and applying those to my personal relationships. To see that pay off immediately… that’s what education is supposed to be.”

She recently completed her capstone research project about premarital counseling.

Malmstrom, who has worked as a nanny for several years, says children factor into her future – both personally and professionally.

“I just love them. I feel like the Lord has given me an outlandish ability to love other people’s children,” she said. “I just have a heart for our youth and communicating to them that they are complete humans.”

Her dream job, she says, would be helping an organization have more positive communication, whether it be conflict resolution or crisis management.

For now, Malmstrom and her husband are parents to Diana, a 7-pound  Chihuahua-Yorkie mix adopted from Little Rock Animal Village. The pup goes everywhere with Malmstrom – and even attended some classes where she stayed quietly tucked into a tiny pet carrier. When the pup is 1 year old, Malmstrom plans to pursue certification for Diana as a therapy dog.

Malmstrom are her husband and currently saving money for their next big adventure.

“When our lease it up, we’re going to tour North America to figure out where we want to live,” Malmstrom, 23, said. “I want to always be experiencing things and different points of view and meeting people. If you’re not, you’re only seeing one page in the book of the world.”

Photo by Benjamin Krain